Vegetables You Can Grow In The Shade

Many gardens have a variety of lighting conditions, from dappled shade under dense trees to full sun in open areas, with variations throughout the day. This is actually ideal for growing a wide range of vegetables including kale, spinach, lettuces and mesclun mix, celery, beets, herbs, and more.

I’ll walk you through how to make it work (and get lots of delicious veggies).

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Growing in the Shade 101

Once you determine the shade characteristics of your garden (I’ll describe them below), you can plan your veggie garden accordingly.

If you are not sure about your light and shade conditions but want to get started anyways (cheers for enthusiasm!), consider starting your veggies in containers so you can move them around if they end up needing more or less light than you planned on.

While sun-loving veggies (tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, squash, watermelon, cucumber, zucchini (check out the delicious recipes here), to name a few) won’t thrive in heavier shade conditions, I actually avoid growing them in full, direct sun (more than 7 hours a day) because it dries out the soil. This list focuses on other vegetables but know these guys can tolerate some shade as well.

Keep in mind that this list of shade veggies is generalized. First and foremost, always select vegetables that are suited for your growing region and be willing to adapt and experiment to find what works best for you.

I can’t list every possible vegetable, but this should give you ideas. You’ll notice natural groupings depending on whether the root, leaf, or bud is eaten.

Types Of Shade

It’s not easy to describe and compare types of shade but this should help you determine what you’ve got.

1. Partial or Half Shade

5-6 hours of sun per day, mainly in the afternoon when the sun is strongest.

Garden beds that receive this same amount of sun in the mornings are considered ‘light shade’ and plants preferring half shade will not grow as large or quickly with the same amount of morning sun but they’ll still grow.

2. Dappled Shade, or Light Shade

This type of shade is usually created by the canopy of trees overhead.

Light still gets through but it’s not harsh and the total effect is less light than partial or half shade areas.

3. Open Shade, Full Shade, or Dense Shade

Whether the shade is created from an obstruction like a house, or dense tree canopies overhead, these deeper shade areas are not suitable for veggies.

Once you know your shade, you can better decide where to place each type of vegetable crop.

List of Veggies That Grow In The Shade

There is a hierarchy here, ranging from veggies like broccoli and Brussels sprouts that prefer a fair amount of sun (partial or half shade), to the salad greens (including mesclun mix) that do fine in dappled and light shade.

Afternoon sun is the strongest and preferable but you’ve got what you’ve got. Try stuff out and see how it works.

The amount of sun listed here is the minimum that will still provide a successful harvest.

About Melissa J. Will

Melissa J. Will is a home and garden blogger (writer, photographer, artist) from Ontario, Canada. Favourite obsessions include repurposed DIY projects and tutorials, organic gardening, creative garden ideas, debt-free living, nature (what more is there?), and sustainable living—all with a dash of humour and side order of freshly-grown salad greens.

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